The endless workday...

Surprise! Guess what my wonderful husband did last night? I came home from my Pilates class to find my Christmas tree up and lit! Too cute considering the hubby is Jewish and if his mom knew...not good.

It is 4:29pm and I am still working. The day before Thanksgiving. Our management team has kindly given us all the day after Turkey Day off for free, which of course is awesome, but I thought that 2pm or so, someone would come walk casually over and say "You guys can go for the day, have a great holiday!". Nope. Meanwhile, I need to buy a turkey. So instead of working, I'm catching up on blogs, googling turkey recipes, and looking up cute centerpieces that I can quickly make tomorrow morning for the feast I'm hosting...

I'm also ~gasp~ cooking my very first turkey tomorrow. Wish me luck. I spotted a kit at Williams Sonoma that I might grab tonight after I get "released" that is supposedly "perfect" for a first time turkey chef. Otherwise, I will go with one of the other 30 suggestions random co-workers gave me out our work Thanksgiving luncheon yesterday.

On a COMPLETELY different note, I received an email plea from Metropolitan Ministries, a local charity here that helps feed the less fortunate during the holidays, among other awesome things they do. The letter was pretty sad. It said they had an additional 5,000 families sign up for food assistance for Thanksgiving this year, a 20% increase from last year. Apparently, due to the economy and everyone's tightened purse strings, they are down 24% in donations. So I was also hoping to swing by with some boxes or mashed potatoes and yams (their suggestion) to hopefully feed the needy. It just stinks to see these organizations struggle and not have control over the monies that come in because money is tight for all.

So with that said, I'm thankful this season for all that I have. And I will be thankful for the glass of wine I'm going to pour myself in 20 minutes.

Word of Advice- Don't Shop After Tea Parties!

On Sunday, I attended the 1st tea party I have been to as an adult. It was in a cute little old house called The Tea Cottage in a historic part of town by me called Ybor City. It was a baby shower (the babies name is to be Stella Harp which I think is adorable even if it is after the father's favorite beers) and sooo adorable. The tea was delicious, food was awesome, and it was just a fun, joyful atmosphere minus the cheesy games.

My downfall was the tea. I failed to realize, silly me, that it was caffeinated. And it was so delicious, and I was still suffering from that darn hangover, I must have had 8 or 9 cups. Seriously.

Word of advice...When you are wired off of caffeinated tea, DO NOT GO ANYWHERE NEAR ANTHROPOLOGIE. I went to Anthro, directly after, to make a return. I was a little strung out from those 8 cups of tea, talking a mile a minute to random people, heart racing, "I need this, and this, and this, and this...and this!" $650 later, I left with 2 dresses, a sweater, 2 pairs or panties, a throw pillow, and knobs for all of the cabinets in my kitchen. I wasn't even in the market of looking at kitchen knobs and they don't even match! Needless to say, I will be making ANOTHER return trip...

I Do Declare...

That I am not enjoying this hangover I'm experiencing. Last night was spent at my friend Jessica's bachelorette party. It was pretty low-key as far as bachelorette parties are concerned, just dinner at Ceviche for yummy tapas and champagne sangria and then off to the hot spot Mangroves, but I still did my best to hang in the shots department. Sometimes I get my mojo going as if I am still in college and I can still party like a rockstar. Too bad that was like 4 years ago...insert feeling old comment here...and the quotient of shots I can handle in a 3 hour period is not what it was. And maybe tapas is not the best pre-bachelorette outing meal either :) though it was totally my suggestion.

(When in the world is my Stoli Ravioli from GrillSmith going to show up via delivery guy? Ughhh...)

Jessica cracks me up. She is your typical UF AdPi- sweet, southern, pearl loving girl. She got engaged in July to a former NFL football player turned businessman who is 10 years her senior and wants babies. Now. Right now. So she planned her wedding for this coming Saturday. Now having just planned a wedding myself, 4.5 months is a bit rushed in getting everything together if you ask me. Imagine my surprise at dinner last night when she told me she booked her florist yesterday. For her wedding. For next weekend. Then she proceeded to tell me that today she was going flower girl dress shopping, having her final dress fitting, oh and maybe she would find a Day of Coordinator to book.

Bless you dear Jessica. I love you and I'm sure your big day will be as beautiful as you are, but holy hell you are crazy!

Just as crazy as this Florida vs. South Carolina football game that is on right now. 21 points in the 1st quarter already! Go Gators!!!!!!!!

The Beginning...

So I'm new to this whole "blog" thing. I have my profiles (Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn), but they are more for keeping up with the crew, sharing pics, you know, social stuff...but this is a whole new ball game.

So one would assume that in the beginning of the blog creation, that I would let you know who I am. All from my Front Porch Swing.

I live in a 1924 updated bungalow in an "up and coming" area about 2 miles from downtown Tampa. Hardly the burbs. "Up and Coming" = beautifully restored bungalows, new cottages made to look like old restored bungalows, and river front mansions, mixed in with uhhh some riff-raff. We love it. Our pocket of the neighborhood is quiet (well we do live next to a convent), quaint, is full of friendly neighbors, and they hold cutesy neighborhood events like "Porch Parties".

Our porch is one of my favorite parts of the house. The porch swing is a place of gossip gatherings and drunken monologues. We have some white rockers to add to the seating and it is a very popular place in the fall on Saturdays and Sundays during our many football gatherings.

My hubby and I got married on Labor Day weekend this year in Amelia Island, Florida, and so we've had a whole whopping (or wopping?) 2.5 months of newlywed bliss.

We are not alone here though. We have a roommate. I call him our Dupree (Get it? Like the Kate Hudson flick? He doesn't think it's particularly funny). He was a previous roommate of my husband's and I don't mind having him here any bit. He is witty and sarcastic and likes to read UsWeekly with me. I don't ever have to worry about being lonely if the hubby is away...not a bad gig.

We also have "children" and by that I mean our 4 legged brood. Manny is our 7 year old adopted retired racing greyhound. His racing name was 'Hanus the Man' which I think is pretty damn cool.

Our wedding present to each other was our playful pup, Walker. Walker is now a 7 month old English Bulldog puppy. He is snoring at my feet very loudly right now and that hasn't grown old to me yet. What has grown old is him going after my TB flats instead of his puppy toys. NOT COOL.

Finally, we are a mixed marriage. He is Jewish, and I am Methodist, but this is really not a religious reference by any means. I went to the best school in the whole nation, and I'm dead serious, the University of Florida. Go Gators! Chuck Norris wears Tim Tebow pajamas, Urban Meyer for Prez, "We are the Boys of Old Florida.."...you get the picture.

My husband, poor soul, went to Florida State University. Sigh. Every year he tells me they are "better, faster, stronger" than they were the previous year and this is going to be it. This has been going on 4 years now. At least he is an optimist. We have still yet to determine how we are going to raise our future kiddies in this sort of arrangement. Someone suggested the boys get to be Seminole fans, and the girls are Gators. We'll see. We'll be going to the UF/FSU game Thanksgiving weekend. I expect another silent car ride home as I gloat to myself.

So that's a glimpse of me in a nut shell. In the meantime, I'll figure this whole "blog" thing out.